Casket placer



Sept. 11, 1956 J. P. WILKIRSON CASKET PLACER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec.5, 1951 INVENTOR.

Sept. 11, 1956 J. P. WILKIRSON 2,

CASKET PLACER Filed Dec. 5, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 QOTARY SHAFT 57INVENTOR.

United States Patent CASKET PLACER Jim P. Wilkirson, Waco, Tex.Application December 5, 1951, Serial No. 259,909

Claims. (CI. 2732) This invention relates to casket placers, and ingeneral aims to provide improvements over the casket lowering apparatusdisclosed in my U. S. Patent No. 2,012,367, dated August 27, 1935.

The casket lowering device of said patent has been in commercial use formany years. However, in operation the patented construction has not beenwholly satisfactory, as the end of a casket which is being rolledendwise over the apparatus may hit the first canvas strap or the firstset of rollers on the short arms which extend inwardly over the grave.If either of these accidents occurs, further movement of the casket isabruptly stopped. A heavy casket upon striking either the first canvasstrap or the first pair of rollers may shift the entire casket placerrelative to the open grave, as the casket placer is comparatively lightin weight and is not anchored but merely rests on the ground. Adistressing scene may ensue if the casket placer is shifted over agrave, and even if the casket placer does not partly fall into the gravethe persons who are handling the casket must move it backward, swing itsforward end up to clear the first strap and first pair of arms, andresume forward movement. Such incidents of course reflect on theundertaker who has charge of the interment.

The present invention provides improved casket-guiding means which willfunction practically noiselessly to prevent accidents or delays, toinsure smoother and more positive operation. It also provides partswhich are easily manufactured, are long-lived, are readily adjusted, andadd to rather than detract from the appearance of the casket placer.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification: I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved casket placer;

I Fig. la is a plan view, partially in section, showing the interior ofa gear housing at one of the corners;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of one end of the casket placer, showingin dotted lines two positions of a casket thereon;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a clamp and support, scale full size;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the clamp of Fig. 3, viewed from the leftside, on the scale of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail, shown on a reduced scale;

Fig. 61's a sectional elevation of the part shown in Fig. 5 but on afull size scale; and

Fig. 7 is a section through a fitting for coupling a guide rod, scaiefull size. I

Referring particularly to the drawings, the casket lowering deviceincludes a rectangular structure which is adapted to surround .the opengrave and be supported on the ground by four housings 10 at the fourcorners. The two long sides of the rectangular structure are provided byrotatable shafts 11, 12, while the two short sides or ends of saidstructure are provided by stationary tubes 13, 14 secured to thehousings10 at their ends. Within tubes 2,762,106 Patented Sept. 11, 1956 13, 14are shafts which are geared by bevel gears or the like (not shown) tothe rotatable shafts 11, 12, said bevel gears being inside the housings10. A pair of strong canvas straps 15, 16 are wound upon the rotatableshafts 11, 12, that is, each strap 15, 16 is secured at opposite ends toshafts 11, 12; and when the apparatus is ready to receive a casket saidstraps stretch substantially horizontally as shown in Fig. 1, extendingtransversely over the grave. After the casket is placed upon the device,the weight of the casket is transferred to the straps and the shafts 11,12 are rotated by the casket as it descends into the grave. A triphandle 17 at one end of the device permits this rotation. As so fardescribed, the apparatus follows the teachings of the Cordonnier et a1.Patent No. 1,780,700, assigned to me.

In harmony with the disclosure of my Patent No. 2,012,367, rotatableshaft 11 carries a pair of short arms 18 and 19, and shaft 12 supports asimilar pair of arms 20, 21, the pairs of arms being aligned with eachother transversely of the rectangular structure. The arms are locatedbetween the two canvas straps and are intended to lie slightly above thelevel of the straps when the parts are in normal casket-receivingposition. Each arm 18, 19, 2d and 21 supports a roller, which may haveroller bearings, not shown. The connection between each of the four armsand their respective shafts is a pawl and ratchet mechanism, fully shownin Patent No. 2,012,367, hence not illustrated. This mechanism holds theshort arms extended over the grave in a horizontal plane, but permitsthe shafts to continue to rotate after the short arms move down'with thedescending casket and strike the sides of the grave. Thus the short armswhich initially carry the weight of the casket move out of the way whenlowering begins and permit the casket to be supported and lowered by thecanvas straps. A pair of longitudinally extending guide rods 22, 23 aresupported by the ends of the short arms, there being one guide rod foreach pair of arms on either side of the central axis of the rectangularstructure, and each guide rod extending slightly upwardly in thedirection in which the casket moves. These guide rods lift or guide thecasket so that its forward end will not strike the second canvas strap,that is, the one farthest from the receiving end of the structure, whenthe casket is being rolled onto the device. A roller 24 for the casketis at said receiving end, being secured by clamps 25, 26 so as to lieslightly above the stationary tube 13. (One of these clamps is shown inFigs. 3 and 4, and will he presently described in detail.) The shafts11, 12 are 7 made telescopic, and when the casket is fully lowered theshafts may be separated in the middle and either end of the structuremay be pulled away from'the grave, after pulling the straps out fromunderneath the casket.

Turning now to the improvements, the two clamps 25, 26 which support theend roller on the casket placer are of unique construction. Adescription of clamp 25, shown separately in Figs. 3 and 4, will sufiicefor both clamps. Clamp 25 consists of a lower semi-circular part 25 andan upper semi-circular half 25*, the two parts being secured together togrip tube 13 by means of two screws 2'7, 28. Screw 28 is on the lowerend of a bracket 29 which is enlarged centrally as indicated at 29 sothat it may be easily turned on its axis to tighten or loosen screw end28. The upper end of bracket 29 is secured to one end of axle 30 onwhich the end roller 24 rotates. As Fig. 1 shows, the end roller liesbetween the two brackets 29. Fig. 2 illustrates a casket C and indicateshow the end roller supports it in the initial phase of placing thecasket over the grave.

The upper halves of clamps 25 and 26 each have a forwardly projectingarm for supporting a pivot rod 31. A description of clamp 25 will againsufiice for both. Referring to Fig. 3, arm 32 extends horizontally andhas a bore 33 for receiving pivot rod 31. Beyond bore 33 the arm issplit to provide a clamp, and a thumbscrew 34 is threaded through thesplit end of the arm and may :tighten pivot rod 31 so that it :ismovable only-, responsive, to substantial-force. Figs. 1 and 2 show, thepivot rod is supported parallel to end tube 13 slightly below the topthereof. Fixed to the pivot rod are asecond setof longitudinallyextending guide rods 35,

36,-.each of which is screw threaded at one end so asto be removablysecured to a fitting 37 best shown in Fig. 7. The two fittings 37 eachhave a bore 37 which receives the pivot rod, and a set screw 3:7 whichsecures the fitting to the pivot rod. An extra fitting 37 (Fig. l) isshown on pivot rod 31v at the left end to take care of a possibleadjustment for an unusually widecasket, the left hand rd36 being thenscrewed into this extra fitting.

At an intermediate point each :guide rod 35, 36 has a tapered ring 40brazed thereon to form a conical enlargement whose function is to guidethe casket over the first canvas strap 15. To aid in this, eachlongitudinal guide rod has a reduced portion 41 located just beyond theconical enlargement 40, these reduced portions being slightly longerthan the width of strap 15 and supporting said strap when the casketplacer is ready to receive a casket. The construction is such that theadvancing end of the casket can not possibly strike the first canvasstrap, no matter how inexpertly the casket is manipulated, because theconical rings 40 lift the casket above the level of the first strap.This will be understood from Fig. 2.

The first pair of short arms 18, 20 each support at their ends atwo-part fitting whose construction is shown in Figs. and 6. Theextremity of arm 20 is reduced as shown at 45 to provide an axle orpivotfor a guiderod-supporting member 46 having a boss 47 which receivesand turns on reduced extremity 45. A stud 48 is made fast to extremity45 and extends through a bore 49 in member 46, a nut 50 and washer 51being on the threaded end of the stud outside of member 46. Nut 50 istight enough to hold member 46 in the position illustrated wherein a pin52 integral with member 46 projects vertically upwardly in the path ofthe casket. See Fig. 2. The end of the casket will strike the two pins52 and turn member 46.- Now the extremity of guide rod 36 rests on aconcave seat 53 provided on member 46. Seat 53 is uppermost when pin 52is vertical, but when the pin is pushed forward, as indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 2, the guide rod moves onto a tapered seat 54 whose widthdiminishes to provide an insecure support for the guide rod. As soon asthe arms 18, 20 swing down, the guide rods 36, 37 will fall olf theseats 54, but will not descend noisily into the grave opening but willgradually move down, the descending casket pushing the guide rods down(against the frictional or braking resistance offered by the split clamparm 32 to turning of pivot rod 31) until both guide rods hang verticallydown in the grave opening, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l.

The second part 55 of the two partfitting is an annular member having abore 56 which fits on the outside of boss 47. Member 55 does not turnwith the member 46 when the pin 52 is struck by the casket, its functionbeing to support the guide rod 23 (or 22), a bore 57 being provided forthis purpose. An upstanding stop 58 may be fixed to tube 1 to preventthe casket from rolling too far and to aid in placing the casket midwaybetween the ends of the grave.

From the foregoing description, the advantages of the construction willbe apparent to those skilled in the art. Obviously many minor changesmay be made in the construction without departing from the invention.

What I claim is:

I. In a casket lowering device of the type having a having a pair ofshort arms detachably secured to said shafts and extending inwardly overthe 'gr'a'veto support the casket prior to being placed on the flexiblestraps, that improvement which consists in the provision of a fittingmovably mounted on the end of each short arm and having an upstandingpart adapted to be struck by the forward lower edge. of the. casket whenit is being moved endwise over the device, a pair of longitudinallyextending casket-guiding rods so dimensioned, shaped and located as toelevate the forward lower edge of the casket and guide it over the "pair'of flexible straps, and means to gpivotally support said rods atone endof the device, each of said fittings havinga surface shaped totemporarily support the free ends of said rods and another surface at anangle to the first-mentioned surface and shaped and dimensioned so as tobe, incapable of supporting the free end of said rod, said other surfacebeing, presented to the rod when the casket strikes and moves over thefitting.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the means to pivotallysupport said rods includes frictional brake means to prevent the rodsfrom falling when their free ends are no longer supported by saidfittings, said frictionalfbrake means being adjustable hy the operatorso that the rods may be pushed down into the grave by the casket whenthe casket is being lowered.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the upstanding part on thefitting is a pin fixed thereto which is vertical when the parts are incasket-receiving position and which is adapted to be struck by theforward lower edge. of the casket as it is placed on the device therebyto move said rod-supporting surface into such a position that the rod isno longer supported thereby- 4. The invention defined in claim '1,wherein each fitting is pivotally mounted on the free end of one of theshort arms to turn about an axis which substantially coincides with thelongitudinal axis of the short arm, the surface which temporarilysupportsthe free end of the rod being concave and shaped to provide asecure seat for the free end of rod so long as said surface is presentedupwardly.

5. ln'a casket lowering device of the type having a pair of rotatableshafts extending longitudinally of the grave on either side, means tosupport said shafts, means to effect simultaneous rotation of the shaftsin opposite directions, a pair of flexible straps being wound up on thetwo shafts. and extending over the grave, and two pairs o'ffls hor'tarms each connected at one end to and being operatively disconnectiblefrom said shafts, that improvement which consists in the provision of afitting having a part that is pivotally supported on the outer end ofeach of the two short arms which are nearest one end of the device, eachpivotally supported part of the fitting. having an upwardly projectingpart adapted to be struck 'by the advancing end of the casket, eachfitting having a fixed part that is secured tothe outer end of the Ishort arm, a. pair of longitudinally extending guide rods respectivelysupported by the lower fixed parts of said fittings and extendingupwardly toward the upper portions of 'the'second pair of short arms,means to connect the second pair of short arms when in operativeposition to said guide rods, all of said short arms having'their topsslightly above the level of said straps when stretched,

and a second pair of longitudinally extending guide rods having apivotal support at the receiving end of the device, each of saidfittings having a' surface on the pivotally supported part fortemporarily supporting the free end of one ofsai'd guide rods of thesecond pair, said surface being turned so that the free end of saidguiderod slides 06 said surface when said upwardly projecting part ofsaid fitting is pushed out of the way by the advancing end of thecasket.

6. The invention defined in claim 5, wherein the pivotal support for thesecond-pair of guide rods includes frictional brake means to check thefall of the guide rods when .no I'ongerreceiving support from saidfittings.

7. The invention defined in claim 6, wherein the upwardly projectingpart of each fitting is a pin fixed thereto which is vertical when theparts are in casket-receiving position and which is adapted to be struckby the forward lower edge of the casket as it is placed on the devicethereby to move the guide-rod-supporting surface away from under theguide rod.

8. The invention defined in claim 7, wherein each fitting has anotherguide-rod-supporting surface at an angle to the first-mentioned surfaceand providing an insecure seat for the guide rod so that the latter willreadily slip off said insecure seat.

9. In a casket lowering device of the type having two parallel shaftsadapted to be supported on opposite sides of the grave, means to supportsaid shafts for rotation, means connecting said shafts so that they mustrotate together in opposite directions, a pair of flexible straps eachwound at opposite ends about said shafts and extending transverselyacross the grave, said straps being substantially horizontal when incasket-receiving position, a pair of short arms fixed to but operativelydisconnectible from each shaft, the pairs of short arms being alignedwith each other and being slightly above the level of the straps whenthe parts are in casket-receiving position, a set of longitudinallyextending casket-guiding rods supported by the two short arms on eitherside of the device and arranged to guide the casket above the pair ofshort arms which are farthest from the casket-receiving end of thedevice, another set of longitudinally extending casketguiding rodssupported temporarily at their outer ends by the pair of short armswhich are nearest the casket-receiving end of the device, and pivotalsupporting means at said casket-receiving end to support thesecond-mentioned set of casket-guiding rods at their inner ends, thatimprovement which consists in the provision of brake means actingthrough said pivotal supporting means to hold said second-mentioned setof rods substantially immovable on their pivotal supporting means untilsaid second-mew tioned set of rods are pushed down into the grave by thecasket in its descent.

18. T he invention defined in claim 9, wherein the pair of short armswhich support the outer ends of the secondmentioned pair of guide rodsand which also aid in supporting the first-mentioned pair of guide rodsare each provided with fittings fixed thereon, each fitting having animmovable member through the lower end of which one of thefirst-mentioned guide rods extends, and having a pivoted member with apart which projects upwardly into the path of the casket as it is beingpositioned on the device, said pivoted member also having a seat forholding one of the second-1nentioned guide rods, said seat being movedout of rod-supporting position by the rocking of the pivoted membercaused by the caskets striking of said upwardly projecting part.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

